"Biden due in Saudi Arabia in mid-July, but some analysts say the kingdom doesn’t have a lot more production capacity"
"With President Biden preparing to visit Saudi Arabia in July, the kingdom and its oil-exporting allies ratified slightly elevated crude oil output while waiting to see whether additional spare capacity would be needed to deal with sanctions on Russia or output disruptions in countries such as Libya or Nigeria.
OPEC Plus — a combination of the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and an informal group of non-OPEC members led by Russia — met virtually June 30 and reaffirmed an earlier decision to add 648,000 barrels a day to oil markets in July and August. Virtually all of that would come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
Biden wants Saudi Arabia and the emirates to take action to lower oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate crude hovering around $110 a barrel, U.S. gasoline prices averaging $4.87 a gallon and consumption rebounding from pandemic-era lows. But Riyadh wants Biden to come without demands on oil exports and instead bring a package deal that would include additional U.S. defense support to help the kingdom fend off the threat posed by Iranian-backed militias in Yemen."
Steven Mufson reports for the Washington Post June 30, 2022.
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